A couple of comments regarding the use of "open wire" or balanced line. To
prevent the whipping and swaying in the wind, when installing the line in
any run, I suggest twisting the line about 2 times per 10 ft length. This
prevents wind whipping/twisting and serves to keep the line better balanced
in as much as each conductor will always be equally relative to any object
that might tend to unbalance the feeders.
As to copper clad steel, yes, continued flexing will cause it to break. For
that reason, I suggest one use the stranded conductor configuration,
typically of #14 to #16 wire. Regarding Z changing with weather, yes, the
accumulation of water, dew, ice, snow and such will have a net Z change on
the line. That's what the tuner is for. Turn the knobs.
As to coaxial feed lines, I like the LDF2-50, even for 160 meters. I don't
worry about loss nor power handling ability.
Here's a good loss calculator for lots of the popular line types including
different balanced lines.
http://fermi.la.asu.edu/w9cf/tran/
73
Bob, K4TAX
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